Glock is weapon of choice for military, police and mass murderers

The Glock semiautomatic pistol can hold up to 33 rounds and fires as fast as the shooter can pull the trigger. Image: CC Wikimedia Commons

The Glock-19 is an Austrian-made semi-automatic pistol preferred by the military and most police departments. The Glock-19, the weapon of choice for Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner, accommodates an extended magazine that can carry up to 33 rounds. A Clinton-era law banning Glocks with extended magazines was allowed to expire by Congress in 2004.

The lightweight, lethal Glock

Glock semiautomatic pistols are compact, lightweight weapons made out of synthetic polymers. The Glock-17 holds ten rounds and is the standard sidearm used by NATO forces and more than 60 percent of law-enforcement agencies in the U.S. When police needed more firepower to combat increasingly well-armed criminals in the early 1990s, they set aside their six-shooters and started packing Glocks. Soldiers and police like Glocks because they fire 9mm bullets as fast as the shooter can pull the trigger, and the weapon is very easy to reload.

No permit needed to pack a Glock in Arizona

The Glock-19, which can hold up to 33 rounds, was the weapon of choice for Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner. Cho Seung-Hui also used a Glock-19 to kill 32 people in the Virginia Tech massacre. Loughner bought his Glock-19 legally. Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed SB 1108 in April 2010, eliminating the requirement for a concealed weapons permit. SB 1108 allowed Loughner to carry his Glock in public, walk up to Rep Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., shoot her in the head and kill six others including a federal judge. Bystanders subdued Loughner before he could reload his Glock.

Expired assault weapons ban included Glock-19

The Glock-19 was rendered illegal by an assault weapons ban enacted in 1994. The assault weapons ban prohibited gun manufacturers from producing magazines holding more than 10 rounds. When the assault weapons ban was due to expire in 2004, an extension of the law passed in the Senate, but the House, under presser from the National Rifle Association, refused to vote on it. Today in the U.S., an extended-magazine Glock-19 is easier to get than a credit card. Arizona gun laws allow anyone to carry a concealed Glock-19, whether or not they know how to use it.